Toothbrushes are generally designed as oral care brushes useful for cleaning and/or massaging the teeth and/or gums. Cleaning the teeth and/or gums of humans with traditional toothbrushes can raise several problems. The hard backside of traditional toothbrushes can bang against the user's gums and teeth opposite to the region targeted for brushing. The hard handle of the toothbrush can also be abrasive upon contact with the lips and teeth.
In the case of children and people with reduced manual dexterity, the problems associated with toothbrush design can become more acute. For example, infants and children are often not co-operative when parents attempt to brush their teeth, which results into a reduction of the teeth cleaning duration and effectiveness. The use of a traditional infant and children toothbrushes, which target a small dental region at a time for a short time can therefore become an ineffective process.
In many cases, the infants and children attempt to become more independent and wish to brush the teeth themselves. The manual dexterity of infants and children is insufficiently developed and it does not easily allow them to grasp and properly use small thin cylindrical objects (such as a pencil or crayon), as required for an adequate brushing of the teeth and gums.
In some cases, seniors or other people, who suffer from tremors or other conditions affecting manual dexterity, can have difficulties with properly brushing teeth and gums using traditional toothbrushes.